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Background:
“You can’t relate to a superhero, to a superman, but you can identify with a
real man who in times of crisis draws forth some extraordinary quality from
within himself and triumphs but only after a struggle. Real courage is knowing
what faces you and knowing how to face it.” Timothy Dalton on playing a
character
An attractive, dark-haired leading man of British, Italian and Irish descent,
Timothy Dalton is well-known as the fourth actor to play James Bond, replacing
the courteous British actor Roger Moore, in the highly successful The Living
Daylights (1987), and Licence to Kill (1989), where his interpretation of Bond
received high praise as being the closest to author Ian Fleming’s literary Bond.
He earned initial attention in The Lion in Winter (1968), and stood out in
Sextette (1978), The Rocketeer (1991) and The Beautician and the Beast (1997).
Also an accomplished TV and stage actor, Dalton has appeared in a number of
productions, including the plays “As You Like It” and “Little Malcolm and His
Struggle Against the Eunuchs” (both 1966), as well as the made-for-TV film
Antony and Cleopatra (1983).
Outside the limelight, Dalton, who was paid 3,000,000 for The Living Daylights
(1987), $5,000,000 for Licence to Kill (1987) and $5,000,000 for the miniseries
Scarlett (1994), is married to Ukranian beauty Oksana Grigorieva, who becomes
the mother of his only son, Alexander Dalton (born in 1997). The family now
resides in West Hollywood. Before the marriage, he was romantically linked to
Yvonne Paul, Whoopi Goldberg (together from 1990 to 1991) and Vanessa Redgrave
(met in 1971 and together for much of the next 17 years).
Private Tim
Childhood and Family:
Born in Colwyn Bay, North Wales, UK, on March 21, 1946, Timothy Peter Dalton,
whose nickname is Tim, is of blended British, Italian and Irish lineage. His
mother comes from the Bronx (New York). Tim’s family relocated to Belper,
Derbyshire, England, soon after his birth, and he was raised in Manchester,
England. As a teenager, he developed a love for acting, encouraged by his
grandfathers who were both vaudevillians. In 1964, Tim left school to attend
London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and spent the summer touring with
the National Youth Theatre. He left RADA after studying for two years, and
joined the Birmingham Repertory Theatre in 1966.
Off screen, Tim likes to keep his private life as a private. He is married to
Ukranian actress-model Oksana Grigorieva, who is 26 years younger than him.
Despite the large age difference, the couple is happily raising their only son,
Alexander Dalton (born on August 7, 1997), together. Tim enjoys fishing,
especially in the Pacific, and reading. His other hobbies include opera, jazz,
antique fairs and auctions and films.
The Living Daylights
Career:
Growing up in a family with a background in entertainment industry, Timothy
Dalton became interested in acting in his teenaged years. After leaving school,
he studied at RADA for two years and toured with the National Youth Theatre for
three summers. He made his professional stage debut at Queen’s Theatre in London
with the 1964 performance of “Coriolanus,” and joined the Birmingham Repertory
Theatre, two years later. With the company, he starred in various plays,
including “As You Like It” and “Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the
Eunuchs” (both 1966). He quickly progressed to television, playing roles in the
series “Sat’day While Sunday” (1967) and the telepic The Three Princes (1968) as
well as guest starred in an episode of “Judge Dee” (1969). But, Dalton did not
receive a big break until he was cast as the King of France in his first big
screen outing, The Lion in Winter (1968). The Anthony Harvey-helmed drama
starred Peter O’Toole, Katharine Hepburn and Anthony Hopkins.
Dalton continued to take on film roles such as in Giochi particolari (1970),
Wuthering Heights (1970, played sensually thrilling Heathcliff), Cromwell (1970)
and Mary, Queen of Scots (1971), before deciding to take hiatus to focus on his
stage work. He performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company and other troupes
throughout the world, and did not appear in another movie until 1975’s
Permission to Kill, a co-production with West Germany which marked Dalton’s
first US film. Three years later, the trained stage player retried to establish
his screen career by essaying the second lead of Sir Michael Barrington in the
comedy Sextette (1978), opposite an octogenarian Mae West. It was hailed as
Dalton’s comeback to cinema and the launch of his Hollywood career. Later that
same year, he made his American TV miniseries debut in “Centennial,” playing
Oliver Seccombe.
The next years saw Dalton continue to divide his time between film and
television. He starred in the made-for-TV film Antony and Cleopatra (1983), the
miniseries “Jane Eyre” (1983), the movie The Doctor and the Devils (1985), among
others. However, his biggest break arrived when he was officially chosen to
replace Roger Moore as the fourth actor to play James Bond in 1986, and he soon
gained international stardom by the release of the 1987 movie The Living
Daylights. The action became a hit and grossed more than the previous two Roger
Moore films. As for Dalton, his portrayal of the 007 signed a comeback to a
grainier, more reasonable characterization, further than what Bond had developed
into during the Moore period. After a starring role in the comedy Hawks (1988),
Dalton again reprised the role of James Bond for Licence to Kill (1989). But,
the John Glen-helmed failed to follow the success of its predecessor though the
financier and distributor MGM reported a net profit of more than $28 millions
for the film. Despite the failure, the actor’s fine portrayal of the 007 agent
won critical acclaim in some districts as being the closest to author Ian
Fleming’s literary Bond. The same year, he was also seen starring as Basil St.
John, the one-eyed lover to Brooke Shields’ comic strip reporter “Brenda Starr.”
Dalton then offered an excellent villainous turn of a Hollywood
star-turned-Nazi-secret agent in the underestimated comic book adaptation The
Rocketeer (1991) and was scheduled to return to the James Bond franchise, that
same year. However, the film (rumored title: The Property of a Lady) was never
made due to disagreement between the distributor and the copyright holder of the
series. In 1994, Dalton officially departed the James Bond role. The same year,
he starred opposite Joanne Whalley in the much-publicized television miniseries
”Scarlett,” based on the contentious sequel novel to “Gone With the Wind.”
The green-eyed Dalton teamed up with Fran Drescher and Ian McNeice in the comedy
film The Beautician and the Beast (1997) as a chilly Eastern European tyrant who
finds love in the form of a New York-accented cosmotologist (played by Drescher),
portrayed Julius Caesar in the ABC miniseries “Cleopatra” (1999, opposite Billy
Zane) and was cast as a pastor named Willam Bowden in the Showtime film
Possessed (2000). He then appeared as real-life detective/mercenary Allan
Pinkerton in the Western film American Outlaws, which starred Colin Farrell and
Scott Caan and directed by Les Mayfield, and did not resurface on the screen
until two years later, when he had the supporting role of Damien Drake in Joe
Dante’s Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003), starring Brendan Fraser and Steve
Martin. He was the narrator of the history made-for-TV film Dunkirk (2004), and
was additionally featured as Amphitryon in the adventure telepic Hercules
(2005).
The 60-year-old actor recently costarred as Clive Trevelyan in television film
Marple: The Sittaford Mystery (2006), which cast Geraldine McEwanin in the title
role. After four years away from the cinematic industry, he is set to return in
2007 with the upcoming Hot Fuzz. The action-comedy will star Simon Pegg and Nick
Frost.
Awards:
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